Awakening of the Beast
by Enchantment of Rose
Summary: A dream of a girl comes to Jet while he dwindles with death leaving him with a quest to redeeming himself and becoming something he never expected. JetxKatara, and a little bit ZukoxKatara Futurefic
1. The Girl of Ice

**(A/N) Hey, just to warn you, this is a pretty unique writing style in my opinion. I don't usually write like this just to tell you. So yeah, enjoy! P.S. plz, constructive criticism welcome!**

The sound of pelting rain boomed in his ears, while the thin damp sheets clung to his body, dark hair adheres to his face veiled with sweat. Where was he? His eyes opened and spun wildly around the dark room consumed in a cold void. More importantly, who was he? He searched his mind for a trace of anything, a memory, a word, an emotion, but there is nothing, like the prison he was in.

Wait. There was something. A dimming light, hiding in the corner, crouched up. It was crying. The face, yes that's what it was, the face, it was crying. Oh what a lovely face, wavy locks framing that perfectly browned skin, with eyes crystallized like ice, but the ice was melting. He wanted to stop it, the ice shouldn't be melting, it was hurting him. It hurt his chest; it burned like molten rock within him. He screamed tearing at his throat like it would release the beast clawing at his heart. Why did it hurt so much? The lady inside him suddenly stopped crying and looked at him. The pain subsided if only for a solemn moment, and the girl, she looked at him. And when that gazed brushed him, it was like_ she _was embracing him, herself melting into him like a waterfall cascades into a forlorn pool.

All the tension had eroded away, and he looked up. What was that expression on her face? Her delicately curved eyebrows compressed, lips pursed, eyes; her eyes were searching. What were they searching for? Were they searching for him? Why he? He started calling out, but something restrained him, he had no voice. He needed to let her know he was there, he just needed to. She was looking for him. Her lips parted, chest rising as if she too wanted to call out, but stopped and started weeping again, her slender figure dawdling in the dusky shadows of his mind. No! She needed to know he was there! She just couldn't give up. He was there.

Without warning, he was being tugged away from the empty presence of her. "Jet!" a puerile voice called echoing in the cave "Jet, wake up! Oh, Longshot, he's alive! Jet! Quick get him some water! He can't speak!"

Jet. That was his name then. It seemed right, like a sword fits into its sheath. A rough cup was being pushed to his lips emitting a cool sensation through his frayed throat. That feeling. It's so familiar; it must have come from the something. The girl, yes, it must have come from her.

"I need…" he croaked, the two boys leaning in close to better hear his rasps, "I need to find her." He leaned back slipping back into the darkness of his mind hoping to find her there again, but it came to him that he was still alone. For now.


	2. Look Back At Me

(A/N):Forshadow:Ooo this chapter is revealing! Oh, and btw, this is the revised chapter. Before, I had mistook Smellerbee for a boy, not a girl. Guess I missed that episode;-)

-Jet-

"Uhh…" Jet moaned, "Where am I?" He rubbed his throbbing head, mussing his dark hair caked in sweat. The two shady faces staring down at him looked alien to him. "Who are you?" he asked a little more panicked as his vision adjusted and became sharper in the darkness of the cave.

The shorter shaggy adolescent with looked surprised as she answered in a hushed tone, "You don't remember?" She searched deep into Jet's blank stare, "I guess you wouldn't. Well, I'm Smellerbee and this here's Longshot. We're the last surviving members of the Freedom Fighters."

"The Freedom Fighters…" Jet mused. Images whirled through his head, bursting and flaring intensely, memories falling like raindrops. The fire, oh the fire! It hurt, it seared. He heard the voice of people, men, women and children alike; all screaming, they were screaming at the water, all their homes destroyed. Because of him. Static eyes peered into his from his memories. All time stilled as recognition overcame him. It was her. They belonged to her. The eyes that made the core of his soul freeze over. She was back.

"I-I remember," his voice trembled with unshaken fear. "Longshot, Smellerbee, I remember." Sighs of relief came exited from Jet's companions, echoing in the cave. "Where are we?"

"We're in a cave just outside Lake Laogai."

"Yes. I remember Lake Laogai. And Long Feng." His fists clenched in anger. That power hungry monster imprisoned him in a mind labyrinth and used him for others' demise. "There were others. At the battle in Lake Laogai, who were the others? I can't remember them! Why can't I remember them?"

"Do you mean Aang?" wondered Longshot.

"Yes! Yes, who else?"

"Well," continued Longshot, "There was Sokka, Toph, and Katara—"

"Katara!" Jet exclaimed eyes widening at the name as if something had ticked off inside his brain.

"Yeah," said Smellerbee, "Why do you sound so surprised?"

"Don't you see? That's her! I had forgotten, but now I remember. We need to find her. I need to tell her." Jet threw off his thin sheets, leaped from his mat. He realized that he had nothing on and started searching for clothes in the darkness.

"We need to tell her what? Jet!" exclaimed Smellerbee, trying to get Jet's attention as he searched for his clothes.

"I don't know! Now where are my clothes?" Jet shouted growing impatient. Already Longshot had crept over to a corner of the cave and returned with a sodden bundle of ragged clothing. "Thanks," he muttered as he reluctantly pulled on the damp shirt, "Now let's get out of this forsaken pit."

Longshot led the way up a dank tunnel winding through the earth until finally they surfaced through to a vestibule of moss-covered boulders emitting the cold light of dusk. Jet breathed in the air, sweet in his lungs as they opened up. It felt as if he had been cramped up in a caged for years and had forgotten the pleasures of life, experiencing them to the full now.

"Jet," said Smellerbee, "Finding her will be easy. But talking to her won't be so simple."

"What do you mean?" Jet said, voice tainted with hostility.

"It's just that, Katara is a queen now."

"Queen? What? How long have I been asleep?"

Smellerbee became quiet as she said "You've been in and out of it for about," her mouth toyed over the forming words while she was thinking of how to put it gently, "Well for about seven years now."

"No, no! This can't be!" Jet let his anger run with him. He slammed his fists on a boulder nearby. He couldn't have been out that long. She would have forgotten. She would have forgotten him. He rubbed his chin brooding on the thought of her. What? There was stubble on his chin where there never was. Actually, there was a beard. He had never had facial hair before; he had never had to shave. Yes, he confirmed. He had been asleep for seven years. And that was too many years for his taste.

Jet calmed, slightly panting from his fit, "So queen, eh? Queen of what?"

"Of the Water Kingdom." Smellerbee verified with a nod.

"I see," Jet said solemnly, "And what else have I missed?"

"Well the War of Ozai's Comet is over. Avatar Aang defeated the Fire Lord and the battle resulted in peace between the nations. As for the Avatar's other companions, Toph became Queen of the Earth Kingdom, Sokka is now Katara's battle chief, and as for the Avatar himself, he is now High King of all the Tribes of the Elements, and King of the Air Kingdom."

"And who rules the Fire Kingdom?" Jet murmured, eyes lowered and ablaze with passion.

"King Zuko is ruler over the Fire Nation." Smellerbee responded with the utmost sensitivity.

"Yes. That is to be expected," Jet forced roughly suppressing his vexation, "But nonetheless, I need to find Katara," his eyes sparked with burning zeal. "Where does she reside?"

Smellerbee shrugged his shoulders, so Jet looked to the silent Longshot who simply replied, "The South Pole."

"Well then chums," he smiled smugly, "We need a plan."

Smellerbee's face lit up at these words, "Now that's the Jet I know!"

Jet gave a short laugh, "Okay, what's the quickest way to get there?"

"Why, the Royal Avian Amenity, I believe." Smellerbee mused.

"What's that?"

"It's a public service Avatar Aang established. It is a fleet of flying aircrafts. The best thing about it is that it's free. Some say Avatar pays the pilots personally for contributing to the greater good of his citizens. There's even an Avian Station in Ba Sing Se."

Jet looked up at the darkened sky with stars peeping out to begin their spying ritual of the night. "Good. Be ready to leave for the city a first light." _Don't worry, Katara,_ he thought, _Just wait. Look back at me._

(A/N): Disclaimer: That last sentence was from a BBC movie called North and South. Just thought you should know that all credit for that goes to Elizabeth Gaskell and John Thorton! Heehee. Great movie, you all should totally watch it. It's worth the 4 hours of you life._  
_


	3. Always On My Mind

**(A/N) Hey all sorry for the wait. I don't know how many months is has been, but its been awhile. So here's the next chapter. I think it's kinda sad, cuz I cried when I wrote it. But I hope it satisfies. Enjoy!**

-Katara-

Katara heard her lonely steps fall back behind, receding into the cold emptiness of the main hall. She breathed out, a cloud of steam curling around her lips. No matter how many fires were burning in the many surrounding fireplaces, the flames never seemed able to lick the chill from the air. The chill that made her feel so isolated. Katara never knew it would be this way. She thought her adventures with Aang were her life and she could keep on like that. But she never once thought she would have to bear the weight of a fourth of the world on her shoulders.

She gathered the soft fur robe around her, and began to walk down the halls of her marvelous palace. It seemed to be made of ice, the white walls glowing in almost any light. The stone had been a gift from Toph. Well Queen Toph, now. Katara could never really get over the fact that they had all grown up and people now looked up to them, they depended on their leadership and guidance. Sometimes she almost wished she could've stayed a child for just a little longer. As the years passed by Katara could help but mourn for her childhood. There was just something still lingering there in the shadows, like she had left something unfinished.

Remembering how cold she was, Katara shuffled down the ice-cold hall, and continued up the winding white stairs to where the hall of the royal chambers was built. This was one of her favourite places in the palace. The architect who designed the palace was also a famed artist as well. And this hall, he designed especially to give the royal family a constant reminder of the beauty in the world and the rights of passage that humans have into it. The hall was adorned in icy arches over every doorway, seeming to be made of smoke, the plumes delicately entwining themselves into each other. The arches were made of a strikingly icy sunstone that flared naturally, giving the straight hall a faint frosted glow, reflecting off the marbled walls brilliantly making them twinkle like freshly fallen snow.

This hall in particular never ceased to amaze Katara as she walked down this alley every morning and every night. But as she strolled down to the grand door to her chamber, Katara heard a low and faint voice echoing from the chamber next to hers. She peeked through the open door into the vast room adorned in various dark pelts and furs. Her eyes glided over to the balcony where her brother stood, the full moon's light playing on his strong features as he stared back up at the pale moon floating delicately in the night sky.

"Oh Yue, Yue…" Sokka pleaded with the moon in his solemnly dark voice, "Why did you have to leave? The love I felt… the love I _still_ feel, it won't leave me alone." His voice quavered and paused, as if he the moon, Yue, was really talking back and yet Katara heard nothing except the polar wind whistling against the palace wall.

"I've tried!" he shouted suddenly back at the moon, his voice now filled with hurt, a pain Katara tried to imagine but couldn't. Sokka looked down and sighed, his bold shoulders sagged miserably, and looked back up to stare at the moon his eyes gleaming with tears. Throughout her entire life Katara had never seen only seen her brother truly cry once. And that was when Yue…left.

"Yue," he continued softly, "I _have _tried to love again. Every time I look at another woman, all I think is 'she's not _you.'_ I need you. Life just seems so unbearable without you, Yue. I love you. And I can't live knowing you are so far away. I want to hold you again, I want to caress your face and smell your hair, but I can't and it's killing me."

Sokka dropped helplessly to his knees on the smooth stone, his shadow quivering against the moonlight, looking defeated. Katara felt a tear drop a fall from her cheek, the trail of water left behind stinging her cheek as it froze. She then realized she was still standing there in plain sight of her brother, and she didn't wish to disturb him anymore than he already was.

Katara gathered her skirts and glided silently up the small flight of steps into her bedchamber, and sighed as the door quietly thudded shut. A fire blazed in the fireplace adjacent to her large bed. The shiver running down her back reminded her how cold she really was, so she hastily stripped down to her under gown, and flitted over to curl under the multiple dark layers of bedclothes and linens. Katara leaned back into her well-fluffed pillows her dark tresses of hair framing her heart-shaped face like a halo.

She sighed yet again, restless thoughts engaging her mind. She wondered if she would ever find that deep love like the kind Sokka had found with Yue. She began to wonder if she'd always be alone, always wondering what it would have been like to _really _love someone. To be held and to know you weren't alone in the world. But as her thoughts faded, so did her mind and soon she drifted off to sleep as the shadows that dancing on the wall dimmed.

**(A/N) BTW, I would just like to tell the readers, in reminder for the chapters to come, that I did change some things in Avatarland. I know originally, the four nations are called the Water Tribe, The Earth Kingdom, The Fire Nation, and the Air Nomads, but due to the change in seven years, these groups have evolved if you will, and are now known as just the Four Kingdoms, The Water Kingdom, The Earth Kingdom, The Fire Kingdom, and the Air Kingdom. I would just like to clear that all up ;**


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